Last month we reported that Shaun Toub had been cast in Iron Man. We’ve just been sent an exclusive but unconfirmed tip by an insider that Toub will play Gene Kahn aka Mandarin. On July 22, 2006, Iron Man director Jon Favreau announced at Comic-Con that the Mandarin would be the main villain in the film.

The Mandarin made his Marvel Comics debut in February 1964 in Tales of Suspense #50. The character is one of the world’s greatest scientific geniuses and a skilled martial artist. Seeking world domination, The Mandarin has no superhuman powers to speak of, he instead makes us of technology. Over the years, he would frequently attempt to turn various nations’ weapons against them. His costume projects a powerful skin-tight force field. He can even split Iron Man’s magnetic-beam reinforced alloy armor with repeated blows from his hands. He possesses ten rings of alien origin which grant him vast powers.

Note: We have no official confirmation on this, so for now, treat this as rumor. We’re usually not a site to start rumors. In the past we’ve been very respectable and cynical when it comes to the unconfirmed. But this casting tidbit seems to gel. We’ll see.